Boy Alone

A Brother's Memoir

About the Book

“Extraordinary… Greenfeld details what it is like to grow up next to a ‘beautiful’ boy with whom he can never play and never connect and who never returns his love, but who, nonetheless, is the most important fact of his life.” — Michael Thompson, Ph.D., co-author of Raising Cain

“Beautiful and powerful …. A masterpiece of literature and memory.” — Walter Isaacson, author of Einstein: His Life and Universe

“Gripping.” — Washington Post

A WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

In this literary tour de force, Karl Taro Greenfield, the acclaimed journalist and author of China Syndrome, tells the story of his life growing up with his brother, chronicling the hopes, dreams, and realities of life with an autistic sibling. Fans of Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking and David Sheff’s Beautiful Boy will find many poignant, moving moments in Boy Alone.

Book Description

Karl Taro Greenfeld knew from an early age that his little brother, Noah, was not like other children. He was unable to communicate verbally or tie his shoes, and despite his angelic demeanor was prone to violent outbursts. No doctor, social worker, or specialist could pinpoint what was wrong with Noah beyond a general diagnosis: autism. The boys' parents dedicated their lives to caring for their younger son—a challenging, often painful experience that their father detailed in a bestselling trilogy of books.

Boy Alone is Karl Taro Greenfeld's unforgettable memoir of growing up in Noah's shadow, revealing the complex mix of rage, confusion, and love that defined the author's childhood—a beautiful, haunting, and wholly original exploration of what it means to be a family, a brother, a person.

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